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FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 17 YEARS, THE GOVERNMENT IS SHUTTING DOWN. This time, there was no 11th-hour solution. Despite a flurry of last-minute legislative actions, Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a way to break the stalemate over President Barack Obama’s healthcare law and keep the government funded, even for one more week. The lack of a fix means that 800,000 federal workers will see furloughs and scores more will work without pay.

OBAMA LAMENTED THE SHUTDOWN IN A MESSAGE TO TROOPS AND DOD CIVILIANS recorded before the shutdown but released just after. In it, he said he’d signed Congress’ last-minute bill enabling troops to receive their paychecks on time during a shutdown, and acknowledged that DoD civilians could face more hardships after this summer’s sequestration furloughs: vimeo.com/75834646.

U.S. troops always achieve their responsibilities, the president said, but “unfortunately, Congress has not fulfilled its responsibility.”

DEMPSEY ON SHUTDOWN — "UNFORTUNATELY, WE DON'T HAVE THAT OPTION": "I regret that our government has shut down. Unfortunately we don't have that option," the chairman of the Joint Chiefs posted on Facebook. "Please continue to do what you've always done — serve the nation. For those of our civilian team mates who will be furloughed, I'm sorry. You are valued members of our profession, and we look forward to your return to duty. Thank you all. I'm honored to serve with you."

WHAT THE GRIDLOCK MEANS, via POLITICO’s Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett: “In a sign of just how entrenched Washington is, Congress is fighting over just a few months of government funding. Sometime in November or December, Congress and the White House will have to agree on a longer-term funding bill to last into 2014. This is just the first fiscal fight of the fall. The debt ceiling must be lifted by Oct. 17.” http://politi.co/17mAh9f

HOW DOES THIS WHOLE THING WORK ANYWAY? POLITICO's Darren Samulesohn digs deep on the mechanics of a shutdown. Spoiler alert: it looks nothing like sequestration: "All federal employees should still show up for work Tuesday, where their managers will distribute the official notices on who is and isn’t essential to daily operations. That’s a tricky enough question — one loaded with both legal ramifications and a good bit of psychological baggage — but essentially boils down to the Cabinet secretaries and a skeleton operations crew who have jobs that involve protection of public safety or government property: think military troops, meat inspectors and border patrol." http://politi.co/17mAKIG.

IT’S TUESDAY, the first day of October, and the government shutdown is here. While we at Morning Defense are in no position to end the stalemate or to predict just how long this thing will go on, we’ll keep you updated on the latest developments and offer a few suggestions of things to do while you’re not working. If you’re in Washington, we suggest checking out the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, which will offer Political Ping Pong, bipartisan board games and streaming episodes of “The West Wing,” according to a post on DCist: http://bit.ly/15GxIeA. Live in Northern Virginia? Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray tweets that they’ll give government employees a free pulled pork sandwich if there’s a shutdown. The catch? The deal excludes members of Ccongress. Give them a follow and let us know if the food’s up to par: https://twitter.com/PBBBQDelRay.

But, if you just wanted to watch the National Zoo’s panda cam to get your daily dose of cute, you’ll be disappointed. The zoo tweeted that the cameras would be shut down, as the staffers that keep them running have “not been deemed essential.” Send your latest defense news, tips, feedback and stories of how you’re spending your shutdown our way at jsummers@politico.com. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter at @jmsummers, @morningdefense and @PoliticoPro.

NEW FOR PROS — DEFENSE INFLUENCE: Our colleague and Morning D veteran author Austin Wright has a new Defense Influence column about the impact of lobbying and campaign finance on defense policy that will go out periodically to POLITICO Pro Defense subscribers. In the first edition, he reports that Lockheed Martin is putting money behind Newark Mayor Cory Booker, United Technologies has Georgia on its mind and General Atomics hearts the GOP. Check it out here: http://politico.pro/15GAuQW

SOME SHUTDOWN RELIEF FOR WASHINGTON NAVY YARD WORKERS: “Everyone who was seated in or physically at the NAVSEA headquarters Building 197 on Sept. 16 (the day of the shooting) will be excepted from furloughs if/when the government shuts down,” a Navy official tells Morning D.

NAVY YARD HEARING POSTPONED: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has postponed today’s hearing on the Navy Yard shooting because of the possible government shutdown. The hearing, which was scheduled for 10:30 a.m., planned to focus on background checks and security clearances in light of the incident at the Navy Yard.

MARINE GENERALS OUT AFTER ATTACK INVESTIGATION, via POLITICO's Kate Brannen: "Two Marine Corps generals are losing their jobs after an investigation found they did not make adequate preparations before a deadly Taliban attack on a base in Afghanistan last September.

CYBERSECURITY, SPECTRUM MAY FACE SHUTDOWN DELAYS, via POLITICO’s Alex Byers and Brooks Boliek: “A shutdown could also complicate the administration’s work on cybersecurity. Under President Barack Obama’s executive order issued in February, the federal government is supposed to put forward by Oct. 12 a draft set of standards to improve the digital defenses of power plants, water systems and other critical infrastructure. Michael Daniel, the administration’s top cyber adviser, cautioned last week that a shutdown could throw a wrench in the process” http://politico.pro/1bn5j55

VA BACKLOG AT RISK UNDER SHUTDOWN, via POLITICO'S Leigh Munsil: "The VA may have to furlough as many as 20,000 claims processors if the White House and Congress aren’t able to agree on a continuing resolution to keep the government running past midnight Monday, VoteVets.org founder Jon Soltz said. And the existing claims backlog, which has long been decried by veterans’ advocates, could start to grow again if the shutdown continues for very long." http://politico.pro/1aFIK7h

IN NON-SHUTDOWN NEWS …

BIDEN: ‘IF THERE WERE NOT AN ISRAEL, WE WOULD HAVE TO INVENT ONE,’ via POLITICO’s Isaac Dovere: “Vice President Joe Biden arrived at the annual J Street conference Monday with a firm message: the Obama administration may have revamped its approach to the Middle East in the last week, but its stance on Israel remains unchanged. There’s a moral connection, Biden said, but there are also clear national security interests.” http://politi.co/16DBECO

the top officer of U.S. Central Command says transitioning forces out of Afghanistan may be "even more difficult than Iraq." In an interview with the Armed Forces Press Service, Austin said the differences between the two countries were in the areas of geography and infrastructure.

“In Iraq, we were fortunate to have access to a single ground route to the port city of Kuwait, which was a relatively short distance from Iraq," he said, adding that "the terrain in Afghanistan is also much harsher and more difficult to negotiate."

“While we are doing well in our efforts to move equipment out of the country using various ground and air assets, the magnitude of the task at hand will continue to present a challenge and require significant resources in order to meet the desired timeframe for completion,” Austin added.

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AT U.N., SYRIA COMPARES MILITANT ONSLAUGHT TO SEPT. 11 ATTACKS, via Reuters' Louis Charbonneau: "Syria's foreign minister on Monday compared what he described as an invasion of foreign terrorists across his country to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, remarks that Washington dismissed as offensive and disingenuous." http://reut.rs/1bn6cKX

— Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is pushing for an agreement by November on the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. Defense News: http://bit.ly/GzD1pO

— DoDEA schools will be open on Tuesday, regardless of a possible shutdown. Army Times: http://bit.ly/19d9zCu

— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was comforted by President Obama’s recent comments on Iran. The New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1hgz5po

OUT TODAY: POLITICO’S GUIDE TO OBAMACARE — Ready to set the record straight on what’s really in the law? Check out POLITICO Pro’s new, comprehensive guide to the law — just in time for the launch of Obamacare enrollment today. “Understanding Obamacare: POLITICO’s Guide to the Affordable Care Act” is a detailed, plain-English explainer of how the law is supposed to work and how it might work in reality — and it’s loaded with fact checks of the talking points both sides are throwing around as the Obamacare debate heats up. It’s POLITICO’s first-ever policy guide, and it covers both the politics and the nuts and bolts. The guide, written by Pro’s David Nather, is now live on the website, where you can read just the chapters you want or download the whole thing as a pdf. Check it out: http://politi.co/1aIpGp5.

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